𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿.

ten.

   "That bread had mold on it three days ago."

   "I'll just pull it off, plus mold is good for you it's just a natural-"

   I stop his rant, "JJ."

   "Yup, yup, yup!" He comes trotting over, stationing himself beside me as he takes a bite of his moldy sandwich and immediately spits it out into the napkin I hand him.

   John B tears open the envelope, opening up what appears to be a sort of map. He mumbles to himself, "longitude, latitude."

   He drums his fingers on the table before digging into the envelope and pulling out a tape recorder.

   "What's that?"

   "A tape recorder, dumbass."

   Big John's voice rings through the room and it's been so long since I've heard it I almost forgot what he sounded like.

   "Dear Bird-"

   "Who's Bird?"

   "It's what my dad called me."

   "I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment you're filled with guilt and self-loathing over our last fight, but don't kill yourself just let kid. I didn't expect to find the merchant either."

   "Either? Does that mean he-" I trail off as he starts to speak again.

   "Not that I blame you, I wasn't exactly father of the decade. What can I say kid? I could smell the barn. Now hopefully we're listening to this in our brand new sugar shack down in Costa Rica living off passive investments and pulling on permits. If not and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for. There she is, the wreck of the merchant. If something happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold kid."

   He sighs, "I love you kid, even if I didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side." The tape cuts and John B stands, stumbling over to the doorway.

   "He did it!" JJ exclaims, "Big John he- he found the mer-"

   I shoot him a glare, "can you not?"

   He immediately quiets and I make my way over to John B, resting a hand on his shoulder. He turns into me, sobbing into my shirt that is actually JJ's shirt (one of the few he didn't cut the sleeves off of).

   I run a hand up his back, "it'll be okay, I don't know when but it will."

* * *

   "How much was it again?"

   "400 mill."

   JJ sits up, "alright let's talk split. Now, before we say evenly may I remind you that I am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us," he pulls out the gun and I damn near slap it out of his hand.

   "Protection? Not cheap."

   "You haven't trained," Pope knocks him back into reality, "you've done zero training."

   "Youtube bro! That's at least a five percent bump right there."

   "You haven't-"

   "Any objections? Didn't think so."

   We all ignore him.

   "What're you gonna do with your money, Pope?" I ask, regardless of already knowing the answer.

   School.

   "Pay for college in advance, also textbooks, those are expensive."

   Called it.